October 30, 2007

Legal, health, and academic experts debate limits of smoking regulation

The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, headquartered at William Mitchell College of Law, invited prominent national and international tobacco control experts, lawyers, and scholars who hold opposing views about the impact of expansive new smoke-free policies on autonomy, privacy, confidentiality, personal liberty, and public health to a half-day symposium on the law school’s St. Paul campus.

“Going Too Far?: Exploring the Limits of Smoking Regulation,” was a precursor to the National Conference on Tobacco or Health held in Minneapolis later in the week.

Leading members of the legal, health, and academic communities with diverging views on smoking regulation came together last week to discuss the impact of controversial tobacco control policies in outdoor settings and in workers’ private lives.

Simon Chapman, professor of public health, University of Sydney School of Public Health, Australia

Speakers Simon Chapman, professor and director of research, University of Sydney, Australia, and Jim Repace, a biophysicist from Tufts University, explored the risks and benefits of laws and policies prohibiting smoking on beaches, golf courses, parks, patios and other outdoor settings. Repace cited studies showing a spike in fine particles in areas where smokers congregate. Chapman said smoke from other combustibles, such as campfires, produces nearly the same type of particulate matter, so which should be banned?

Ultimately, society will have to decide how much of an annoyance is too much, they agreed.

Lewis Maltby, director of the National Workrights Institute and Dr. Robert Crane, from Columbus, Ohio agree on employers’ rights to regulate smoking in the workplace, but disagree on controlling tobacco use outside of work. Some companies fire employees who smoke off-site, hire only nonsmokers, and impose higher health insurance premiums on smokers.

Maltby said other behaviors that affect employees’ health, such as alcohol, diet, exercise, and hobbies, are not regulated. Crane said smoking is far more dangerous than any of these behaviors.

Doug Blanke, executive director, Tobacco Control Legal Consortium

“William Mitchell was the perfect venue for this type of discussion because in academic settings, people feel more comfortable expressing different opinions,” said Doug Blanke, executive director of the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, a national network of public interest legal centers around the United States that specialize in issues involving tobacco and health.

Attendees Darren Nealy, Jackie McNamara, and Kathleen Dachille

“The purpose of the symposium was to provide a highly interactive environment in which participants could improve their understanding of divergent views and identify areas of consensus as well as pitfalls for policy initiatives.”

The Legal Consortium’s symposium was one of several auxiliary events on tobacco and public health issues held in conjunction with the national conference, which was attended by more than 3,000 tobacco control advocates and public health professionals from around the United States.